What’s in your Facebook ‘Other’ folder?

Last week, New York Times tech columnist David Pogue discovered something he found startling about Facebook – it has a folder of “hidden” messages sent to users that many of them never see.

Pogue was describing Facebook’s “Other” folder, and the fact that he was surprised to find this indicates he’s not been paying attention. The folder – which holds messages sent to you from people who aren’t in your network of Facebook friends – has been around for a long time. You can read about it in this 2011 Slate article, which notes that Facebook instituted it in November 2010.

While Pogue’s a tech columnist who should be on top of these things, many mere mortals may not be aware of the folder’s existence. You can find it by clicking on the Messages item in the left-hand menu of your Facebook page, then looking to the right of the Inbox tab.

Pogue says in his post that the Other folder is part of a Facebook system that lets people who aren’t in your network put messages in your inbox by paying $1. That’s not exactly true, since the Other folder pre-dates Facebook’s non-friend-message fee. The folder was really designed to make sure you don’t see spam.

But the bottom line is this: There may indeed be messages in there that may be important to you, even if they weren’t important enough for the senders to cough up a measly buck.

Even if you’re aware of the Other folder, chances are you don’t check it often. I haven’t looked in mine in about six months, and when I did, I found some, um, interesting things:

• A request from a friend of my son for help getting a book published. (Sorry, I don’t have that much juice with the publishing industry.)

• A note from a reader asking why a Windows Registry repair program he thinks I once recommended is being flagged as malware by his antivirus software. (I didn’t recommend that program; in fact, I tell folks to stay away from registry repair software.)

• A long, rambling note from someone who says “ultra-hyperspike transducers” are being used to harass him and keep him up at night.

• A variety of notifications that I’ve won the U.K. lottery, that someone in Nigeria wants to transfer millions of dollars to my bank account, and numerous offers for free iPhones and iPads.

Today, Pogue published a follow-up blog post with notes from readers who shared what they found in their Other folders. In some cases, there were missed job opportunities, notes from long-lost relatives and friends and even notifications of legitimate contest winnings.

Pogue thinks the Other folder system is broken, but it sounds to me like it’s working just fine. Facebook lets you designate the people who are your friends. Those who aren’t on that list should indeed have limited access to your attention. (And frankly, I’d question the judgment of someone who wasn’t a friend trying to send important information through a venue like Facebook.) But perhaps Facebook could add an optional notification when messages land in the Other box. I’d leave that off, but others might find it useful.

If you’re a Facebook user and have not looked in your Other folder lately (or maybe ever), check it out. If you find something interesting, let us know in the comments.